I was trying to problem-solve my Time Warner cable box last night, and I had ESPN on as my test channel. I was behind a rack entangled in wires when I heard the ESPN announcer proclaim the name Yuta Tabuse. Apparently, he's the first Japanese player to make it onto an NBA team.
How did I miss this? They proceeded to show a higlight of Tabuse at the top of the three point line, doing a little head fake and side shuffle behind a high screen and nailing a three pointer. He ended the night with 7 points and 1 assist. He's only 5'9", and what's even more amazing is that I think he served me a Rainbow Roll at the sushi bar last week. Either that or I saw him in The Last Samurai.
Who is Yuta Tabuse? According to this article, he's the "most famous basketball player in Japan" and has a flair for no-look passes on the break. Does Chris Berman have a nickname for him yet? Has he found any decent sushi restaurants in Phoenix? When he matches up against Earl Boykins of Denver, does he signal to clear Stoudamire and Marion out of the post so he can post Boykins up? When will see the SI cover that puts Yao Ming next to Tabuse?
He's the third-string point guard behind Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa, so we won't see much of Tabuse except at garbage time. What an exciting, quick little trio of guards that will be, tossing alley-oop passes from all over to Stoudamire and Marion. If you're trying to pick a package of games for your local NBA team, you could do much, much worse than catching the visiting Suns.
I also like the Jazz, who just thrashed Kobe Bryant and the Lakers last night. Andrei Kirilenko is now a household name with more than just fantasy hoop players. He's looks like a skinny Ivan Drago on the basketball court, just swatting balls with arms the length of yard rakes, and off the court he's married to a Russian pop star. He recently read Master and Margarita by Bulgakov (good book!). He wears #47 because some of his teammates call him AK-47. He's 23 years old. Good times.